9 little known facts about the Battle of Agincourt
Agincourt is known as the story of an English victory despite overwhelming odds. But some lesser-known factors also played a part in this famous conflict.
Image: The Morning of the Battle of Agincourt (1884) by John Gilbert | Public Domain
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The Battle of Agincourt has gone down in history as the story of an English army’s shocking victory over a French force that was far greater in numbers. Indeed, Shakespeare famously depicted this pivotal battle in his play Henry V.
But the real story of that engagement on 25th October 1415, is more complex. Here, we list nine facts about the fight at Agincourt that are not so well known.
1. The French king was not present – for good reason
The English king, Henry V, was the aggressor in this conflict. Re-igniting the Hundred Years’ War, he decided to invade France in 1415 to take French territory he claimed was rightfully his. Indeed, Henry V personally fought at Agincourt.
Yet the French king, Charles VI, was not involved at all. This was because he was suffering from mental illness and not able to command his forces. The resulting absence of strong leadership on the French side likely contributed to their loss.
2. A difference in numbers was not the only disadvantage the English faced
Henry’s siege of the city of Harfleur in the preceding weeks had worn out his army, as well as diminishing it by one-quarter. The English soldiers were also suffering from dysentery and exhausted from marching to cross the Somme, while the French forces were fresher to battle.
3. The English and the French were not the only nationalities involved
Although Agincourt was part of a power struggle between the French and the English thrones, Welsh soldiers were also a part of Henry V’s army. Some even say that the battle was won thanks to the skill of the 500 Welsh archers who participated.
However, the Welsh captain depicted by Shakespeare at the battle was a fictional creation. Interestingly, many of the real Welsh combatants were from Monmouthshire, which was appropriate because Henry V, also known as Henry of Monmouth, was born there.
4. There was one factor in the English’s favour
The field of Agincourt was a setting that greatly benefited the English. For one thing, its narrowness diminished the French’s ability to overwhelm the English by numbers. It had forests on each side that prevented the French from flanking their opponents.
Moreover, the field had been recently ploughed, and it was wet. As with other famous battles like Waterloo, muddy terrain turned out to play a major role in the result.
The English forces added to the benefits of the field by planting stakes that angled toward the French – a countermeasure against their cavalry.
5. It is not known exactly how badly the English army was outnumbered
Everyone agrees that the English army was facing a larger force of French soldiers. However, historians do not fully agree on the extent to which Henry V’s men were outnumbered.
Henry V likely commanded around 6-8,000 soldiers. Estimates of the French army’s size vary significantly, ranging from as few as 12,000 to as many as 30,000 or even more.
Consequently, some say that the English were outnumbered two-to-one. Others estimate the ratio as high as five-to-one.
6. Some of the French may have suffocated or drowned
The French force at Agincourt boasted a great many heavily armoured cavalry soldiers. In contrast, the English forces had a greater proportion of longbowmen. Their proficiency in archery has often been named as a factor in their victory.
The condition of the terrain also gave the armoured cavalry less advantage. The French were picked off by archers as they trudged through the wet ground, and eventually they became literally mired in a kind of traffic jam, with soldiers hemmed in together and falling over one another, unable to move in their heavy armour. It has been suggested that some drowned in the mud.
7. The battle was surprisingly short
It is estimated that the battle of Agincourt took no longer than three hours, and possibly even less time than that. It was a dramatic contrast to the six weeks the English had spent besieging Harfleur.
8. The death toll of the battle was also shockingly unequal
The numbers of soldiers facing one another at Agincourt may have been unbalanced, but the deaths that resulted from it were even more so. Henry V’s army is said to have lost 400, while the French suffered about 6,000 deaths. Moreover, many of the French losses were prominent nobility.
9. One element is missing from most depictions of the battle
Henry V has been played in cinematic depictions of Agincourt by such famous actors as Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Olivier. However, these portrayals are generally missing one famous feature.
12 years before Agincourt, Henry V – then Prince Henry – was shot in the face with an arrow at the Battle of Shrewsbury and almost died from the wound. This is why portraits of Henry V depict him from the side – to conceal his scar. Typically, this scar is not shown in filmed versions of Shakespeare’s play.
